the laundry room

 We have a two story house and I spent a lot of time going up and down the stairs with laundry in my arms, and somehow the clothes never made it to the dressers. One day I got smart and dragged the boy's dressers downstairs and put them in the laundry room which is on the main floor. I moved all of their clothes into the laundry room so that after breakfast they would just go to their drawer and pull out the day's clothes. This turned out to be a wonderful brain wave that saved much time. Eventually we put built-in cupboards and drawers in the laundry room and this has helped keep things neat and organized.



Each boy has two drawers for their clothes and in the laundry baskets are all of dirty clothes that are sorted. I also have a laundry basket full of boy's underwear and boy's socks (mostly mismatched).

All of the boy's clothes are in the laundry room except for the out of season clothes and clothes that need to be hung up.

This is what it looks like at the end of the day!

You cannot see it too clearly but I have a saying on top of the door that says,
"The laundry room  Loads of fun"

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But here is the thing: even with everything being organized I cannot keep up with the all of the laundry. Just when I think that I have gotten to the bottom of the pile, in the middle of the night a big truck comes and dumps an even bigger load!

some more Tyler Tales

 On a warm and sunny day this week, "war" broke out in our back yard...more specifically our swing set.  Tragically, Tyler got caught in the crossfire and this is the result...





A missing tooth.
 It really is a sad, sad thing when one so young looses a tooth knowing that it will be years until it is replaced with a permanent tooth.
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                      When Tyler came crying to the back door with a mouth full of blood, I knew that I needed some back up, so I called my sister-in-law Christine and she came over right away (many times I have thought that she would of been an excellent emergency room nurse!) Both of us could not tell if the tooth got shoved up into Tyler's gums so I called our dentist to get some help. By this time I was feeling slightly frazzled but just to make matters more chaotic, the dentist closed five minutes before I called. By this time Tyler was full of blood, I was very mad at the other boys who were suffering from sudden amnesia when asked what happened, and I was not in a good place in my mind.
I grabbed Tyler and took off at a quick clip to the dentist with high hopes that I might be able to catch the dentist before he left the office. The quick clip lasted until I noticed a cop following closely behind me - the very truth. Thankfully the cop didn't pull me over and I slid to a stop in the parking lot (taking up three spaces). Once again I grabbed Tyler and ran to the door. The staff were just locking the door, talking about their packed long weekend and then...they looked up to see my frazzled face, trying to catch my breath, and Tyler with blood streaked all over his t-shirt. They graciously unlocked the door, turned their computer system on again and took x-rays of his little mouth.
$56.00 later we knew that the tooth was indeed gone, Tyler was happy with his little prizes, and I headed slowly off for home. What a day.
Here's what I learned. Accidents do happen and it doesn't have to be one person's fault. The boys were all having fun and Tyler just happened to get caught in the middle. What can I say? Not having girls in our family  means we don't have to deal with the drama; we have trauma (at least for me!)


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Tyler's favourite funny face.

Here are a few pictures of our full-of-life little guy. (pre-accident) 

Tyler has been making his own lunch for some time now. It is one big messy occurrence, but he is thrilled with his messy, gooey, sandwiches.

 

 

Now I know why I have so much laundry!

BOOKS - 'Waiting For His Heart" by Joy McClain

**Lately I have come across some wonderful books that I would like to share with you. I am going to keep my reviews of the books simple and give you a quick glimpse of what the book is about. These books may be helpful to you in whatever trials you or a loved one are going through; you may want to put these books in your church library; or recommend a book to a friend.


"Waiting For His Heart" by Joy McClain
Lessons from a wife who chose to stay

When Joy spoke her wedding vow, she had no idea that for the next 20 years her marriage would be shattered because of  her husband's addiction to alcohol. Joy writes about the struggles of being a single mom, financial difficulties, disappointments, but most of all how God spread His everlasting arms under her and carried her through the hard, lonely moments. In the end the redemption that God orchestrated is beyond beautiful and gives hope. What I appreciated about this book is that Joy does not dwell on the horribleness of her life but continued to point to the gracious work of Jesus. Joy uses her gift of writing to encourage those going through this struggle (or those walking along side those with addictions) BUT this book can be for anyone to read, and I heartily recommend it.

*you can watch Joy on youtube. Type in Joy McClain: True woman profile 

amazing aunts!

 

On Mother's Day, I was thinking about all of the wonderful, inspirational women God has placed in my life and I realized that many of these women are my AUNTS!
On my mom's side my aunts are one of a kind. They host teas, brunches, baby and wedding showers for all of their nieces. They bring meals, cards and words of encouragement when there are down days. They can give recipes off the top of their head, tell you where the best deals are, and they have a fantastic sense of humor. On my dad's side, sometimes I only see my aunts a couple times of year but what really strikes me is that it seems like just yesterday. We pick up just where we left off. They want to know what is going on in your life, what is new, and what books are worth reading. I have asked them for advice and it has always been very Godly.
 When I married Adam, God gave me more aunts and they too are wonderful. It seems like they have always been my aunts! We don't see each other as often, but when we do, it is like receiving a beautiful bunch of flowers!
So if you are an aunt, be assured that you too play a role in your nephews and nieces' lives. I know that our boys drink in the attention that their aunts and uncles, and even great aunts and uncles shower on them!

what an inspiring video to watch!

This video of an older brother who devotes and sacrifices so much for his younger brother who has a disability is very touching. Show it to  your kids

from the homefront - spring

This post is full of unorganized pictures from the past few months, but it will tell you that our household of outlandish characters are alive and well. The days fly by and the evenings are taken up with caring for a baby, making sure that he is well stocked up for the night.


 

Don't you just love it when you walk into the room and this is what greets you? Toys, glasses, and hats on the baby...at least the baby hasn't been moved out of the room, but I put nothing past Tyler.

Thankfully this little guy has a great smile for everyone.

Celebrating Easter at my parents. It never fails to amaze me that with their four daughters (and no sons) they have ten grandsons and only one granddaughter. Olivia handles it all very well though.

 

 

Such sweet little winter hats

Easter at Adam's parents - how cozy!

Carl and Carly the Canada geese are back and looking quite in love.

Marley and Milly the Mallards are beautiful to watch as they gracefully swim.

 

 Having dear friends over is such a treat - it takes me a long time after a baby is born to have people over again. Does anyone else have this? I am not sure if it is tiredness or what but it always takes more time to get into a schedule than I think it will.

Building a swing set for the boys - Adam finds all sorts of creative ways to use the tractor.

 

Love this picture!

This week the members of our church look forward to moving into our new church that was built. A lot of hard work from many members of the congregation have gone into this big project. Here is a look from the back of the churches. You can see the old one in front. In a few weeks time the old church will be torn down and our boys want to be there for that great excitement.

I have been proof reading a lot of books on raising godly sons. These books all have wonderful ideas, and good advice but what it always comes down to is prayer; that our sons may be tender warriors with teachable hearts for our Lord and that we as parents may be wise with our dealings with these young children entrusted into our care.

 

 

This little guy puts me on a roller coaster of emotions every single hour that he is awake.

Poison ivy strikes AGAIN

     A few weeks ago when the weather started to turn warm, my hands were itching to get into the gardens. I started to garden with a vengeance but at the same time I was very hesitant. I did not want a repeat of last year. Maybe you remember my blog post from last summer of "you know that you have poison ivy when..."
A few years ago my poison ivy was so bad that I didn't dare go out in public and considered buying a head covering. The poison ivy was under my chin and the worse thing is that I don't get normal poison ivy. It blisters and oozes and requires gauze; just terrible. When the poison ivy was under my chin, I looked like a billy goat; a very pathetic site.
So, as you can see, I have a fear of poison ivy that is well justified.
When I started gardening this spring I was on guard for this horrible, invasive weed that causes much grief. I studied each weed before I pulled it and had "leaves of three, let them be" going through my head.
I started to feel pretty good about myself because of my vigilance in searching out the poison ivy. I even started to become self-righteous and had an analogy to go along with all of this.
 I really should  put as much energy fighting sin and fleeing temptation as I put into being on guard for poison ivy. I should be constantly aware of every little sin that enters my heart and weed it out.
 As this was going through my thoughts, I became aware of an idol in my heart, and that was an idol of physical comfort. I like to feel good and have energy. I don't like being thirsty or hungry. My circumstances dictate my joy. This all became a matter of prayer but my prayer quickly changed when I discovered three little raised spots in a line on my leg. Please let them be bug bites. The next day my leg was red, inflamed, spots had spread and the itching was driving me crazy. My circumstances were causing me distress and I was not joyful at all. Miserable.
So here I sit with my leg elevated to decrease the swelling and wondering how to end this blog post. Andrew just walked by, took a disgusted look at my leg and told me that it looks like I am dying. I am not sure what to be more concerned about- my constant itching, or the fact that my son thinks that I am dying and walked away.